Arkansas governor touts workforce development, business-friendly environment

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and former Easterseals Academy student Peyton Epperson at the academy’s ribbon cutting in Little Rock on Monday, July 28th, 2025. Behind her are state Sen. Jonathan Dismang, left, and Easterseals Arkansas CEO Ron Ekstrand. (Photo by Will Newton/Arkansas Governor’s Office)

By Sonny Albarado, Arkansas Advocate

Arkansas’ net general revenue in the first month of the 2026 fiscal year exceeded projections by about $10 million, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Little Rock Rotary Club members on Tuesday.

The boost in net revenue “was not expected” by “outside voices” that have said tax cuts made since she took office would hurt the state’s economy and not induce economic growth, Sanders said.

“Over the last two years, we’ve been able to cut Arkansas taxes three times, taking 20% off our state income taxes and putting more than $1 billion back into the pockets of Arkansans,” the governor said. “By doing that, we’ve reinvested in our state, and we’re seeing a return.”

Arkansas remains “number one” in the country in cost-of-living and among the top states for new residents migrating from other places, she said, attributing the rankings to her administration’s ability to get rid of regulations and make the state even more friendly to business and investment.

The state has the strongest economy it’s ever had, she said.

The state finance department won’t release the official revenue numbers until Monday, and Department of Finance and Administration spokesperson Scott Hardin said the net revenue could change slightly in the two days remaining in July.

DFA Secretary Jim Hudson told legislators in May that an extension of the deadline for filing state income taxes to July 31 because of storms in April likely would mean revenue that should have shown up by the end of fiscal 2025 in June would be reflected in July’s numbers.

Sanders’ comments came during the Rotary’s monthly meeting as she responded to questions from Soirée magazine Publisher Mandy Richardson at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library.

During the roughly 45-minute “fireside chat,” Sanders touted her signature education legislation — the LEARNS and the Arkansas ACCESS acts — as key components of her overall workforce development strategy to help attract industry and support in-state businesses.

LEARNS overhauled the state’s K-12 education system, setting a minimum $50,000 salary for teachers, establishing tougher standards of third-grade literacy and providing coaches to help meet them, and establishing Educational Freedom Accounts to subsidize parents who want to send their children to private schools.

The voucher program enters its third year with the upcoming school year when it becomes universally available to any public school student. So far, the state Education Department has approved more than 43,100 applicants, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported. If the department approves the full amount for every applicant, the cost would be about $18.5 million more than the $277 million the Legislature approved this year, and Sanders is committed to funding every approved applicant, the newspaper reported.

Sanders noted Tuesday that the EFA program enabled Easterseals Arkansas to expand the number of developmentally disabled students it serves from 20 to 220 as of this fall. She attended a ribbon-cutting at the nonprofit’s new K-12 academy on Monday.

Arkansas ACCESS made changes to the state’s higher education system, including allowing faculty tenure to be affected by job performance reviews, streamlining course structure across institutions, allowing easier student transfers between two-year and four-year schools, and creating an accelerated learning program for high school students who want to take college-level courses.

“We’ve made significant strides” in building a workforce to meet employers’ requirements, she said.

The governor also touted measures the administration and Legislature have taken to improve the state’s energy infrastructure by allowing the Public Service Commission to fast-track energy companies’ projects.

Other successes Sanders mentioned Tuesday:

Arkansas is one of only nine states to offer paid maternity leave to teachers.
$4 billion invested in water and wastewater infrastructure over the past two years, although she noted the cities and counties still need at least another $4 billion to address critical needs.

The Arkansas Advocate is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to tough, fair daily reporting and investigative journalism that holds public officials accountable and focuses on the relationship between the lives of Arkansans and public policy.